Apple and Accenture on Tuesday announced a new partnership to develop iOS tools and services to help enterprises connect with their customers through iPads and iPhones.
Accenture will create a dedicated iOS practice within Accenture Digital Studios, staffed by a range of visual and experience designers, programmers, data scientists and architects, as well as hardware and software designers. An Apple expert will be embedded in the team.
"Starting 10 years ago with iPhone and then with iPad, Apple has been transforming how work gets done," said Apple CEO Tim Cook. "Yet we believe that businesses have only begun to scratch the surface of what they can do with our products."
Based on his firm's experience with developing apps, iOS is a superior platform for business, said Accenture CEO Pierre Nanterme.
The companies plan to develop new ecosystem services to deal with the full range of iOS integration requirements needed to connect back-end systems. They will leverage Accenture's expertise in systems integration, along with unique iOS advantages that Apple built with its partners Cisco and SAP.
The companies plan to develop Internet of Things services featuring new tools, templates and predesigned code to take greater advantage of IoT platforms in iOS apps.
They also plan to work on migration services to help move applications and data from legacy systems to modern iOS apps.